Thursday, December 29, 2016

Starbucks is Not Standing Still

Forty-Five
years ago the first Starbucks opened
in Seattle in Pike Place Market. Today
there is little doubt that Starbucks is anything but an old tired brand
according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Starbucks
is in a race to the first foodservice / restaurant company to reach the 50 year
mark with more customer relevance today that it had in any of its first five
years of existence. Not only does
Starbucks continue to lead its sector and is an example for the entire
restaurant industry that evolving with the consumer works. How will Starbucks
stay relevant? Here are 10 things they
are working on now:

1. Starbucks unveiled
an innovative conversation ordering system, called My Starbucks Barista,
powered by groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Starbucks Mobile
App. Customers will be able to place their orders via voice command or
messaging interface. The AI feature will roll out first on iOS in limited beta
in early 2017 and be made available to more iOS and Android users in subsequent
releases.

2. Starbucks offers
the largest mobile ecosystem of any retailer in the world, with more than 12
million Starbucks Rewards members, 8 million mobile paying customers (1 out of
3 use Mobile Order & Pay), and more than $6 billion loaded onto prepaid
Starbucks Cards in North America during the past year alone.

3. Leadership in
coffee is at the heart of Starbucks innovation. Born from the Seattle Roastery,
Starbucks will introduce the Cascara Latte to customers nationwide in January.
Made with the fruit of the coffee cherry, Cascara lends subtle notes of dark
brown sugar and maple to classic Starbucks Espresso.

4. A new breakfast
option arrives in January of 2017 with the introduction of Sous Vide Egg
Bites—a wheat-free, low calorie, high protein, convenient breakfast. That will
be followed by the spring launch of a Certified Gluten-Free Breakfast Sandwich.

5. Expect more food
innovation from Starbucks early in the year with the regional rollout of
organic soups, expansion of Starbucks Bistro Box selections, and introduction
of more fresh grab-and-go lunch choices—salads, sandwiches and desserts—made
fresh and delivered to Starbucks stores daily.

6. New products
showing up in the grocery aisles during the spring of 2017 include: Bottled
Starbucks Cold Brew Cocoa and Honey with Cream in select markets in the U.S;
and ready-to-drink (RTD) Teavana Craft Iced Teas in partnership with
Anheuser-Busch. The new RTD teas include Pineapple Berry Blue Herbal Tea, Peach
Green Tea, Mango Black Tea and Passion Tango Herbal Tea. Later in 2017, select
flavors will be available in Starbucks stores too.

7. Starbucks global
real estate teams and design offices are creating the most dynamic and
immersive coffee retail experience for customers around the world. The most
premium of these retail experiences are Roasteries. Since opening two years ago
in Seattle, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery has become recognized as the most
dynamic and immersive coffee retail experience in the world. Starbucks will
open its next Roastery in Shanghai in 2017, Tokyo and New York City in 2018,
and a fifth location in Europe to be announced early next year.

8. Starbucks expects
to have more than 37,000 stores by 2021. That’s an additional 12,000 new stores
globally elevating the Starbucks Experience around the world. Some of these
customer experiences will be Reserve stores. Starbucks Reserve stores are a new
retail format that will integrate the theater and romance of the Roastery with
the unique culinary experience of the company’s new Italian food partner,
Princi. Starbucks is also extending elements of the high-end Roastery
experience to its core Starbucks stores by adding Starbucks Reserve experience
bars in up to 20 percent of its total portfolio.

9. Starbucks plans to
open standalone Princi stores in Seattle, New York and Chicago by 2018. Rocco
Princi, who opened his first bakery in Milan in 1986, expanded to five renowned
Princi specialty stores over the years, and is now bringing his signature
artisanal baked goods to all new Starbucks Roastery locations, including
Shanghai and New York. In a place where the roasting and brewing of the world’s
finest coffees takes center stage with small lot Starbucks Reserve coffees, the
Roasteries are the perfect environment for Princi’s masterful creations.

10. China is the
largest international market for Starbucks, with nearly 2,500 stores in 118
cities and more than 30,000 partners (employees). The company is opening over
one store a day in China and remains on track to open more than 5,000 stores in
China by 2021.

Success does leave
clues and the team at www.FoodserviceSolutions.us hopes you pick a
couple of clues from Starbucks. If not
you just might have another look at the list above. Will your brand be stronger next year? If not contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Driving Top Line
Sales and Bottom Line Profits since 1991.